The Semirechyenskaya Oblast () was an

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

(province) of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. It corresponded approximately to most of present-day southeastern

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and northeastern

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. It was created out of the territories of the northern part of the

Khanate of Kokand The Khanate of Kokand was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. It was ruled by the Ming tribe of Uzbeks. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, a ...

that had been part of the Kazakh Khanate. The name "Semirechye" ("Seven Rivers") itself is the direct Russian translation of the historical region of Jetysu. Its site of government was Verniy (now named

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

). The Russian government seized the Semirechyenskaya region in 1854 and created the province the same year. It was administered as part of

Governor-Generalship of the Steppes The Governor-Generalship of the Steppes, or General Government of the Steppes (), was a colony of the Russian Empire located on the Kazakh Steppe and western Siberia. Russia asserted full control over the Kazakh Steppe in the early 19th century, ...

(which was known as the Governor-Generalship of the Western Siberia before 1882) between 1854 and 1867 and again between 1882 and 1899, and part of

Russian Turkistan Russian Turkestan () was a colony of the Russian Empire, located in the western portion of the Central Asian region of Turkestan. Administered as a Krai or Governor-Generalship, it comprised the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh Steppe, but ...

between 1867 and 1882 and again between 1899 and 1917. Russian control of the region was recognized by the

Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881) The Treaty of Saint Petersburg or Treaty of Ili was an unequal treaty between the Russian Empire and the Qing dynasty that was signed in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on . It provided for the return to China of the eastern part of the Ili River, Ili ...

between Russia and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. On April 30, 1918 the region became part of the

Turkestan ASSR The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (TASSR; ; ), originally called the Turkestan Socialist Federative Republic, was an autonomous republic of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic located in Soviet Central Asia which e ...

. On October 27, 1924, as a result of the national-territorial reorganisation of Soviet Central Asia, the northern part of the region became part of the Kirgiz ASSR (already created in 1920 and renamed the Kazakh ASSR in 1925 and then established as the union-level Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic), while the southern part became the

Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast The Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast, abbreviated as Kara-Kirghiz AO or KAO in the former region of Soviet Central Asia, was created on 14 October 1924 within the Russian SFSR from the predominantly Kyrgyz part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet ...

(eventually the Kirghiz ASSR and SR) within the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

Geography

It covered a region called Semiriche (southeastern Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan), the Chui Valley and the mountainous regions of Tien Shan. It was found in the southeastern part of the Turkestan Governor-General. In the north it bordered the Semipalatinsk region, from the south and east - China (on the Bedel Pass to the southwest by the Tian Shan Range),and from the west the Fergana and Syr Darya oblasts. The oblast covered the territory of lakes Balkhash,

Issyk-Kul Issyk-Kul () or Ysyk-Köl (, ; ) is an endorheic saline lake in the western Tianshan Mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan, just south of a dividing range separating Kyrgyzstan from Kazakhstan. It is the eighth-deepest lake in the world, the eleve ...

, Ala-Kul.

Administrative division

As of 1897, the Semirechye Oblast was divided into 6

uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd or uiezd; rus, уе́зд ( pre-1918: уѣздъ), p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context () was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the R ...

s: Its major outposts included Fort Ili (now

Qonayev Qonayev ( ), also known as Konaev () and by other names, is a city in southeastern Kazakhstan. It is the seat of government for the Almaty Region. The population was and Names is the Latin form of the Kazakh name ; is the romanizatio ...

) at the

head of navigation The head of navigation is the farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships. Determining the head of navigation can be subjective on many streams, as the point may vary greatly with the size or the draft of the ship b ...

on the

Ili River The Ili River (, , ; ; ; zh, 伊犁河, ; , ; , ) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan. It ...

Demographics

As of 1897, 987,863 people populated the oblast.

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (Kazakh language, Kazakh: , , , ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe. They share a common Culture of Kazakhstan, culture, Kazakh language, language and History of Kazakhstan, history ...

and Kyrgyz (united as Kirgiz in estimation) constituted the majority of the population. Significant minorities consisted of

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

and

Taranchi Taranchi is a term denoting the Turkic-speaking, Muslim, sedentary population living in oases around the Tarim Basin in today's Xinjiang, China, whose native language is Turkic Karluk and whose ancestral heritages include Tocharians, Iranic p ...

. Total Turkic speaking were 878,209 (88,9%).

Ethnic groups in 1897

demoscope.ru
1897 census results, languages

References

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Geography

Administrative division

Demographics

Ethnic groups in 1897

See also

References